Friday, December 11, 2015

5 Tips to Survive Finals Week

We are entering another dreaded finals week, (yayyyyyy-said no one ever). Finals week can be one of the most stressful times in a students life. Here are some quick tips to make your finals week a little bit better:

1. Start planning and studying now
Take advantage of reading (study) days. I know, I know. You really want to procrastinate all of your studying, but should you really? I totally understand. I swear if I am given three days to study you can guarantee I'm busy for at least one of them. And by busy I mean, "I should organize my closet," and "now I have to organize my whole room." Or how about the fact that I am writing this blog post instead of studying for all of my finals (I should take my own advice, hah!). Well, I promise you will thank yourself if you take the time to study before finals week starts, it really pays off in the end!

2. Eat right, but reward yourself
Finals week is not the time to eat only pop tarts and donuts. And it's also not the time to start a crash diet where you only eat spinach. Be sure to eat good foods that fuel your mind (think fresh foods). And it is always good to reward yourself when you accomplish something grand. When I finish all of my finals I love to go and get a treat to reward myself.

3. Exercise
It has been proven that your brain works better after exercising! Exercising will help you have more energy to study (and actually comprehend) all of the things you have to fit in your brain during finals week. Exercise is really important to me. I exercise when I am happy or angry, hungry or way too full, stressed or relaxed, busy or bored. And every time I finish my work out I always feel a lot better. This doesn't mean you have to run 20 miles, just go for a jog or do cardio for 30 mins. I promise it will help you relieve stress and concentrate on your studying.

4. Study in sessions
I don't know about you, but when I study for longer than 30 minutes it becomes completely worthless. I can never remember anything if I study for too long! Don't forget to take study breaks to refresh your mind. Be sure to balance and organize your finals week so that you can concentrate on the right things at the right time.

5. Sleep
Sure it's the last week of school before the holidays, but you should really hold off on all of those ugly Christmas sweater parties that end at 3 in the morning. Getting enough sleep will help your brain function correctly while you take your million and a half finals. Try and get at least 7 hours every night. Sometimes it is better to go to bed instead of studying for an extra hour. Although some people may disagree, sleep IS essential, and finals week is one of those times you should really try to get some sleep.

There are my five recommendations. I promise you can make it through finals week! Just imagine that glorious feeling you will have as you walk out of your last final, I can almost touch it! You can do this! I'm rooting for you!